Game Day

[alf8478]

I've been living under the delusion that he might just get better at it over time, but that really doesn't seem to be working out.

Aside from the awesome play calling, you have to give the coaches credit for design. I like the idea of having a rookie guard pulling on a pass play to be the primary pass protector against last year's DPOY. Solid design right there. It also takes a special group to deny the greatness of Chase with the ball in his hands... I mean, you'd figure all 31 other teams would hand it to him once. Or maybe a receiver screen once in a while?

You don't even have to dig that deep. How about just not Shotgun=pass and Under Center = run. If a moron like me can see that coming from my tv, opposing coaches certainly would have figured it out.

 

[cincygrad]

You don't even have to dig that deep. How about just not Shotgun=pass and Under Center = run. If a moron like me can see that coming from my tv, opposing coaches certainly would have figured it out.

Are you allowed to pass the ball if your QB starts from under center? And if so, can you still pass even if you first fake it to the running back? Because that would make for a wonderful play.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

I think the formation does tend to lead to teams knowing if a run or pass is coming up. However, I am not upset with the play calling as much as I am the execution. If Burrow wasn't misreading something, the offensive line was failing to block or give time, players were getting hurt. Boyd and Higgins wound up hurt. After all the shit that happened, we were one normal long snapper away from winning that game with 5 turnovers. The old Bengals, a negative 5 turnovers would have meant a 30 point loss. We were one regular snap away from an extra point and a win.

This game hurts, but in the end, no one panicked and they all came though. Burrow got more time in the 4th quarter to throw the ball, players started making clutch catches and Chase took over the game. The defense played great. They gave up basically 13 points. The other 13 points were solely on the offense due to turnovers (INT/TD and two TO immediately in FG range).

It sucks, we didn't look like Buffalo or KC, but the fact we were able to be in the game winning situation with that much destruction and clownery, it is encouraging they will keep improving. We definitely looked like we could have used some preseason though. We looked confused and slow the first half.

 

[cincygrad]

I think the formation does tend to lead to teams knowing if a run or pass is coming up. However, I am not upset with the play calling as much as I am the execution. If Burrow wasn't misreading something, the offensive line was failing to block or give time, players were getting hurt. Boyd and Higgins wound up hurt. After all the shit that happened, we were one normal long snapper away from winning that game with 5 turnovers. The old Bengals, a negative 5 turnovers would have meant a 30 point loss. We were one regular snap away from an extra point and a win.

This game hurts, but in the end, no one panicked and they all came though. Burrow got more time in the 4th quarter to throw the ball, players started making clutch catches and Chase took over the game. The defense played great. They gave up basically 13 points. The other 13 points were solely on the offense due to turnovers (INT/TD and two TO immediately in FG range).

It sucks, we didn't look like Buffalo or KC, but the fact we were able to be in the game winning situation with that much destruction and clownery, it is encouraging they will keep improving. We definitely looked like we could have used some preseason though. We looked confused and slow the first half.

I think it speaks well of our talent that we had our chances to win even with all of those turnovers. Pittsburgh either doesn't haven an offense or they weren't willing to try after spotted a lead. Our D was great all day, but they weren't tested much either. It's not like Pittsburgh doesn't have great receivers - There is some serious talent out there. I'll be interested to see what happens with that group over the course of the season.

I don't think the sky is falling - This team will win a lot of games.... I just wonder whether Taylor will consider another approach next season. As mentioned before, this is really three straight seasons where the offense has looked like they needed more practice when the season opened.

 

[Gypsumstack]

There were a lot of bone headed coaching decisions in the game.

- Going hurry up when the refs called Chase down at the one instead of at least huddling up and letting everyone get a look at the replay to decide if they should challenge.

- Going for a touchdown on 4th down instead of kicking the field goal early in the 4th quarter, which then led to them having to go for the TD at the end of the game instead of a game tying FG.

Let say they were afraid to go for the FG because of the snapper's injury and not being sure if they could make a glorified PAT. I can buy that, but that leads to...

- Going for the PAT in a pressure packed end game scenario when you were afraid it wouldn't work earlier in the game in a much less pressurized scenario where you had room for error. If they thought they were fine, they should have kicked the FG earlier. If they were scared, they should have went for 2 to end the game. Both a missed/blocked PAT and unsuccessful 2 pt attempt end with a tie game and OT.

- The clock left on the punt. They shouldn't have tried to get the snap off at 1 second, they should have let the clock run and taken the delay of game penalty. If the Steelers go for the block and jump, you get five yards. If not, you lose five yards. Either way, you run more clock and punt anyway.

 

[cincygrad]

There were a lot of bone headed coaching decisions in the game.

- Going hurry up when the refs called Chase down at the one instead of at least huddling up and letting everyone get a look at the replay to decide if they should challenge.

- Going for a touchdown on 4th down instead of kicking the field goal early in the 4th quarter, which then led to them having to go for the TD at the end of the game instead of a game tying FG.

Let say they were afraid to go for the FG because of the snapper's injury and not being sure if they could make a glorified PAT. I can buy that, but that leads to...

- Going for the PAT in a pressure packed end game scenario when you were afraid it wouldn't work earlier in the game in a much less pressurized scenario where you had room for error. If they thought they were fine, they should have kicked the FG earlier. If they were scared, they should have went for 2 to end the game. Both a missed/blocked PAT and unsuccessful 2 pt attempt end with a tie game and OT.

- The clock left on the punt. They shouldn't have tried to get the snap off at 1 second, they should have let the clock run and taken the delay of game penalty. If the Steelers go for the block and jump, you get five yards. If not, you lose five yards. Either way, you run more clock and punt anyway.

I agree about the punt play. Letting it run down to 1 second could have been disastrous, but they could have taken the delay of game first. It seemed like from the press conferences that Simmons and Taylor weren't on the same page for what Simmons would ask the snapper to do. Simmons indicated that he was afraid that making the snapper sit in that position too long would lead to a high snap and potentially end the game, so he told him to snap early. I wonder if he didn't run it by Taylor first or if nobody suggested a delay of game before doing this.

The only thing I can say in Taylor's defense for the Chase catch is that Chase didn't act like he scored. Normally receivers argue with officials about that stuff. He was acting a bit weird. It sounds like the coaches got spooked and second-guessed whether Chase got in bounds. It was also a stupid play that they ran as they had two receivers that got blown up on the line and the run had no chance.

 

[alf8478]

I agree about the punt play. Letting it run down to 1 second could have been disastrous, but they could have taken the delay of game first. It seemed like from the press conferences that Simmons and Taylor weren't on the same page for what Simmons would ask the snapper to do. Simmons indicated that he was afraid that making the snapper sit in that position too long would lead to a high snap and potentially end the game, so he told him to snap early. I wonder if he didn't run it by Taylor first or if nobody suggested a delay of game before doing this.

The only thing I can say in Taylor's defense for the Chase catch is that Chase didn't act like he scored. Normally receivers argue with officials about that stuff. He was acting a bit weird. It sounds like the coaches got spooked and second-guessed whether Chase got in bounds. It was also a stupid play that they ran as they had two receivers that got blown up on the line and the run had no chance.

I didn’t even think about that. Chase had no reaction. Maybe he thought/knew he didn’t get his foot down.

 

[futballiscool]

I looked up Burrow's college numbers and during his Heisman year he was aligned in shotgun 99 percent of the time. I wonder if the Bengals tendencies are related to individual player preference. Burrow might prefer to pass out of shotgun and Mixon likes to run the ball with the QB under center

 

[jbuck]

I have no idea how that brown's hat got on my profile. not a browns fan

 

[CrashDavisSports]

I have no idea how that brown's hat got on my profile. not a browns fan

Gotcha. I am pretty sure you can log into your profile and change those icons.

 

[dare2be]

I think it speaks well of our talent that we had our chances to win even with all of those turnovers. Pittsburgh either doesn't haven an offense or they weren't willing to try after spotted a lead. Our D was great all day, but they weren't tested much either. It's not like Pittsburgh doesn't have great receivers - There is some serious talent out there. I'll be interested to see what happens with that group over the course of the season.

As would I. I'd say that it was about 60/40 Steelers offense/Bengals D. Trubisky, and the unit as a whole, hasn't quite gelled yet. Lots of check downs and short yardage calls, jet sweeps and a rather conservative gameplan. Bengals did a good job of containment and keeping the play in front of them. Many of the longest plays were gadgets, such as the flea-flicker and double reverse. The preseason has shown that the rushing game still hasn't solved its problems from last year's NFL bottom 5 ranking.

That said, that was the craziest game I've ever watched in my lifetime.

 

[cincygrad]

As would I. I'd say that it was about 60/40 Steelers offense/Bengals D. Trubisky, and the unit as a whole, hasn't quite gelled yet. Lots of check downs and short yardage calls, jet sweeps and a rather conservative gameplan. Bengals did a good job of containment and keeping the play in front of them. Many of the longest plays were gadgets, such as the flea-flicker and double reverse. The preseason has shown that the rushing game still hasn't solved its problems from last year's NFL bottom 5 ranking.

That said, that was the craziest game I've ever watched in my lifetime.

I think, in general, the Bengals will be very difficult to run the ball against this year. DJ Reader is a force in the middle and BJ Hill has really found a home here. While Hubbard might not provide huge splash in the pass game, he's better than most edge players against the run. And our linebackers are underrated. If Mitch doesn't pull off that pass on the busted play (Hubbard drawn offsides), I don't see how Pittsburgh gets the opportunity to win the game. I'm interested to see if the Steelers open it up more..... They need to use some of that talent.

 

[dare2be]

I hope they do. On the few plays they did try to open it up, bad overthrows and poor timing were evident. It'll come, or we'll be seeing Pickett's raw talent sooner than later.